Labor leader: Rachel Withers on Jens Hoffmann

Straw-polling gallery-goers admittedly isn't the greatest in quantity objective method of gauging opinions upon a given art-world topic. That noted, the question "When did you last diocese a really barnstorming exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts?" had a late-January sample of London's art concourse collectively head-scratching. Acknowledging interesting names upon the bill (Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij, Mike Nelson Philippe Parreno, Pierre Huyghe, Aleksandra Mir, et al.), greatest in quantity pollees agreed that presentational flaws and the absence of a unified vision have sailed the ICA's exhibitions into the doldrums; present to views seemed "unloved," they asserted, and the program "lacking in direction."

Costa Rican-born, German-raised writer and curator Jen Hoffmann has the tricky piece of work of turning the ship around. Appointed director of exhibitions in January, he takes above from a curatorial team--Matthew Higgs, Cristina Ricupero, Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen, and Toby Webster--that codirected exhibitions across 2000-2003 Hoffmann brings with him six years' experience in independent curating; his throws include "Spectacular: The Art of Action" at the museum kunst palast, Dusseldorf, 2003; "Institutio[n.sup.2]: Art Institutions: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Working with Contemporary Art" at Kiasma, Helsinki, 2003-2004; and the 6th Caribbean Biennial in Saint Kitts, West Indies (an infamous ape exhibition co-organized with Maurizio Cattelan in 1999)

Hoffmann, who took up his column full-time last month, views his ICA piece of work as a "challenge and a fantastic opportunity" and, more specifically, promises "to formulate and diet a wider diversification of curatorial models" His congeal plans include Artistcentric, an exhibition series for which artists similar as John Bock and Carsten Holler will take above the curatorial reins; Artists' Favourites, for which individual artists will nominate a favorite work for display in a group-show context; and Curatorial Extension, exhibits guest-curated by luminaries from non-fine art fields. The forthcoming exhibition "Around the World in Eighty Days" will draw together contributions from International artists and recommends a "captivating" approach to the issues and riddles of globalization. Hoffmann will also tap homegrown London and UK talent, a action that would go down well with the straw-pollees: single noted that the ICA must have "a London face." Hoffmann's prospective program throw outs energy in spades; it also practically redefines the mete "labor intensive." Which leads to still another unscientific opinion: It's support from the ICA's upper echelons that will ultimately decide the destiny of the beneficial ship Hoffmann.

Rachel Withers is a London-based critic who reviews regularly for Artforum.

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